


Postcards From the Edge of the Heart

by Shadhavar1126 (Chimera428)



Series: One Shots, Prompts and Previews [19]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Cat Grant Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Eventual Kara Danvers/Cat Grant, Eventual relationship, F/F, Fluff, Letters, Minor Canonical Character(s), Postcards, explaining the absence, kara zor-el - Freeform, long distance pre-relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-08-23 09:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8322661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chimera428/pseuds/Shadhavar1126
Summary: It's been 2 weeks since Cat Grant took a sabbatical from CatCo and Kara receives an unexpected package.





	1. Petra, Jordan

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be a series... that probably won't find resolution until Cat Grant is back on canvas. It's one of my fillers for Cat being gone and still being 'around' so to speak. Expect a new chapter every week after each Supergirl episode.

It had only been a couple of weeks since Cat's departure when James passed by Kara's office, dropping off the small envelope that the mail room had handed him on his way up. The typed to address with no forwarding return was an easy give away but he let it be for now.  He wove his way through the bullpen from the main elevator banks, still not comfortable enough to use Cat's private one, nor was he sure he ever would be. Snagging layouts and all manner of other things designated in bins for Cat, or now him until she returned, and slipped into her office.  Once he was behind her desk he allowed himself to pause, looking over the work floor as people began filtering in for their shifts.  

He laid out the plethora of reports and layouts submitted, pulling in a deep breath as he glanced over the now vacant desk, the corner of his mouth lifting when he noted a long black box and the Mont Blanc logo across the top. He drew in a slow breath, thumbing the thing open and seeing the small card inside.  

_“Told you one day you'd have one. Always knew I'd buy it for you too. - Cat”_

CatCo without Cat Grant, already he knew the tensions and boundaries were going to be pushed with his temporary oversight.  Then again most people at CatCo had no idea how good of friends he and Cat actually were.  Coming here to look after Kara via her cousin wasn't the only reason he had transversed the country to National City from Metropolis.  Ironically enough that was a better kept secret than Kara's real identity it seemed.    It also made people question just enough, especially with his current promotional status, to be cautious.   Perhaps there wouldn't be so much testing of his limits after all.

Kara made her way out of Snapper's office, dropping yet another article off with her somewhat truncated but not less truthful account of Supergirl's latest exploits and just in case he felt she was still a one note wonder had done a puff piece on Lena Luthor in the wake of her attack the month prior and all that she had done to rebuild not only that entire area of National City but L Corp's reputation as a viable legitimacy.

She might not have a chair, and he may still think her entitled and disliked her with a vengeance she had yet to figure out the depths of but she had an office and no one was going to take that from her.  Especially since it felt like a parting gift from Cat, her own fortress of solitude.  Only her main beacon of hope and light was gone. She didn't bother looking at Cat's office, the last time she had she had felt herself getting defensive over James moving a few items around even when she knew Cat had taken everything even remotely important with her that she felt she needed out.

Otherwise the office remained filled with her touch and sense of style, as it should.  As Kara kept reminding herself this was only temporary, Cat would be back, she said so to Supergirl, to her, and Cat never said anything she didn't mean.  At least along those lines.

She snagged the envelope out of the box beside her office door, along with final revision approval for her last article before it went to print and secured herself away.   She found herself committing to this little ritual every day. At home was easy, but at work, she secured herself into her office and she would gradually close off her senses in a form of Torquasm-Vo. Pinpointing the exact particular bio-rhythms of one Cat Grant until she found her.  Kara never lingered long enough to figure out exactly where Cat was, just to find them ensure she was safe or otherwise moderately alright and then would slowly extract herself back into her physical body.

She had asked Clark about that once, after he had mentioned something about Myriad and why it hadn't affected her versus him.  Only for both of them to conclude that with Kara's time spent for so long in the phantom zone with nothing but herself and her mind she was probably quite more adept mentally at things both Earthly and Kryptonian wise than even he was unaware of.  It was with a fleeting dream not a few scant days after Cat had departed, that felt all at once all too real to have actually been just a dream, that Kara had even considered what she now carried out every morning.

It grounded her, just like Cat had always grounded her, and kept them connected, even if it was just on Kara's end but for now it was enough.  It had to be, until she came back, or Kara just had enough and went and found her.  She knew why she hadn't said anything to Cat before she left, for the same reasons Cat had chosen to leave in the first place.

She loved her too much to not allow her to be happy, to explore these new avenues of herself that made her light up and use words like exhilaration in concert with her actual feelings and outlook on life. To call Kara astonishing and get all flustered and almost huffy when Kara got upset at the prospect of her life without Cat around.  To flirt openly with Supergirl, tease her with her real name and the little stroke of her finger against Kara's arm before promising to be back.

For Kara to reveal to Cat how she felt, how she really felt about the woman in the midst of that reveal almost felt unfair.  Of course if Kara had just told Cat the truth far before now about who she was and how she felt or what she thought was how she felt until she thought Cat was dying she might actually be going with her.  Or something, anything than being two separate people needing to find themselves without one another.

Ever the planner Kara had outlined in her brain stages of revelation of how she would finally work her way up to telling Cat that not only was she Supergirl, but that she was in love with her.  That with Cat not being her direct boss, and being established as a reporter and secure in herself as Supergirl that they could finally figure out a way to work towards something more substantial if Cat would have her.  She had thought in the moment with that plan she was diving in, only to realize she was still standing in the middle of the beach contemplating the best place to set up.

Then Cat was gone, and her plan was out the window, Kal-El was gone, Alex was still a little touchy, Winn was Hank's new best friend and her life was upside-down all over again forcing her to stand on her own.  A prospect she wondered now if she would always find herself doing, picking herself up, looking into a sea of change once again unsure and alone.  

Finally having extracted herself from the other woman, despite feeling a touch melancholic, served to ground and empower her for the rest of the day. She knew it was probably detrimental in the long run, to put that kind of intention on Cat's shoulders without her knowledge but until Kara could manage to work out in her mind how to function in this place without Cat around it would have to do.

She looked to the envelope in front of her then, nondescript and typical from someone who would provide her with a source bit of information for an article while remaining anonymous.   There was no return address and postage was first class, she scanned the contents easily with a tip of her head and finding no reactive or dangerous substances within it pried the envelope open and turned it over.

A series of card stock slipped out, one with a thump and the other spilling across her desk on a short lived air current before they settled and she opened the envelope wider, finding nothing else inside before tipping her head to regard the objects.   Immediately she recognized the rock-carved Nabataean city of Petra, she had studied its architecture in college and already her fingers were tracing the columns of the Treasury before she flipped it over.

_“Kara,_

_I recalled you talking about this place once before in some off-hand conversation.  It is indeed as breath-taking as you made it seem even with your somewhat juvenile descriptors at the time. Of course I realize now, having seen it first hand, I'm amazed you could describe it at all._

_XO_   
_-Cat”_

Kara blinked, looking at the small bit of bubble wrap that was taped to the card edge then back to the sure hand of Cat's script.

_“P.S. Found this, thought of you.”_

She fingered the wrap, easily undoing the tape from the postcard before turning the plastic over and letting its contents spill into her hand. A thin chain of gold fell first, followed by the flat of script in beautiful swirling letters it took a moment for her brain to catch up, utilizing the depth of her linguistic skills to realize it was her name in Arabic. There was no way the woman simply found that particular necklace, especially in gold. It had to have been made for her, which meant Cat had made it for her, more than halfway across the world and sent it.

Kara drew in a deep breath, smoothing her fingers over the letters of her name in another Earthen language wondering how long it had taken Cat to pick it out, or if she had already had it in her mind. She pulled the necklace up, making sure it faced out correctly before she locked the clasp behind her neck. She pulled the object taut, feeling the clasp rub and finally stick to the other necklace she never took off, hand settling over the flat of her chest just below the line of her neck where her name sat.

With another glance to her desk she reached over and picked up the second post card, instead of a landscape it was a picture of a plane, her brow furrowing as she tried to figure out the significance before turning it over and feeling her chest tighten.

_“A little plane for a little bird. - Cat”_

She turned it over again then looked back, recalling the conversation a couple weeks prior when she had shown up on Cat's balcony as Supergirl and while they had skirted around who exactly had told her she was leaving, they both ignored the fact that without saying it the other was well aware of who Supergirl was, whether she'd admit it or not.

Kara fingered the postcards, picking herself up from her desk as she moved over to her wall, placing them on the planner board there, using an index card to mark the dates before letting out a deep grounding breath. She glanced to her watch a moment after, realizing the woman she was pining over would never let her excuse her lapse in time and wasting every second of every day. With another look up to the cards she smiled, making a mental note to pick up her own post card from somewhere within the city in order to return the sentiment.

 


	2. Milan, Italy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a bit, the goal was to post after every episode so I'm still one behind but here's a two for.. the next one should be up later tonight/tomorrow

Kara edged past the elevator doors, doughnut caught in her teeth, three articles wedged between her fingertips and her usual coffee order held in the opposite. She spun around another wayward employee who was far too busy texting and walking to look up and ensure they weren't going to run anyone over. She edged through the reporters bullpen which had just combined with the Tribune as some sort of money saving effort which meant more bodies and more stress, but also more competition and far more scrutiny from Snapper.

Kara set her articles in her fulfilled box before snagging a novel sized file of assignments outlined for her ranging from Lena and the follow up concerning the incidents that had occurred during her little soiree and the unexpected fireworks that were a part of it to the rise of masked vigilante's. Of course there were other mundane requests in there as well but the meat of any good article were the ones whose bylines pulled the reader, or in this case Snapper's attention and of course were properly vetted, sourced and unbiased.

She made her way back out, holding her coffee up over another group of employees that nearly took her out before trudging to her office, unlocking the door and closing herself up inside with a heavy thud. Kara had only been in the building for five minutes, less than even, and already she felt she had been caught up in a whirlwind. She would have relished the sensation, if she only the person she longed to share that feeling with were here.

Cat had always managed to calm the edge of those feelings into something that would fuel her whole day with productivity, allowing Kara to live in the thrill of it all without becoming lost to the frivolity that always surrounded it. Kara took a deep breath, trying to imagine that Cat was here, just a few steps away in her office, pacing about or upstairs in a meeting with the board or otherwise indisposed and just out of eyesight but still present.

If Kara were honest with herself Cat was always present, but the weight of acknowledging the depths of that now would twist her about until there was no way she could be productive at CatCo and would have to retreat to the D.E.O. and spar with Alex or Mon-El or something to get it back inside the box. That or she would lock herself in her office with her growing collection of worldly treasures she seemed to be getting every week.

As it was she never took her necklace off, even when she was out as Supergirl. The history of the Moma Tbilisi Museum of Modern Art in Georgia signed by their current curator to Kara sat on a shelf beside a full sized framed image of one of Zurab Tsereteli's sculptures in full surrealistic glory along her far wall.

Her latest acquisition was a large geometric terrarium. The cube of glass set seemingly precariously on a corner on her desk, filled with the color changing sands from the Republic of Mauritius and water from the Chamarel Falls near Africa that reminded her so much of Krypton it was almost painful in the most beautiful sense of the word.

She rounded her desk, setting her coffee down first after inhaling her doughnut with a slight shove of her fingertips to finish off the pastry. Kara set her assignments down and woke her computer up to start her day with thoughts of Cat and her romp around the world to keep her somewhat on point.

After an hour or two there was a knock on her door and with an absent minded acknowledgement she was startled with the thing actually opened.

“Sorry Danvers,” Toby from the mail room allowed, having caught her jerk of movement. “You uh got another delivery.”

Kara rose from her desk to meet him halfway, having expected something large or bulky or listed as so fragile that it required two people at all times to carry it upon threat of death to its designation and to be released to Kara's capable hands. A small square of cardboard with Cat's handwriting and no accompanying package was not what she had been expecting.

“That's it?”

Toby had already ducked out and had nearly shut the door.

“That's it.” He smiled. “Have a good day Danvers.” With a click he was gone and she was left alone in her office holding the thin cardstock.

She looked down to the image, immediately recognizing the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II on its architecture alone before turning it over to read what made her heart swell and grow heavy far easier than the oldest shopping mall in the world could even hope to achieve.

“Be home before eight tonight.” - Cat

Kara swallowed hard, already glancing to the clock, and counting the hours in her head and how anxious she was going to get as time passed. She twisted around and snagged her phone off her desk, sending off a text to Alex that she was going to be unavailable tonight due to something important and she would explain later. She drew in another breath, slowly walking around her desk, fingers running over the indentations of Cat's pen where she wrote before turning it over to view the Galleria trying to envision the woman walking through the center of the landscape.

She glanced up at the clock again, making a face noting there had only been about a minute to pass before looking back to the postcard. This day was going to take forever at this rate, until she got home or started home then she knew undoubtedly time would slip through her fingers like sand.

 

  
True to form Kara barely made it in the door before eight o’clock, divesting herself of the remnants of work her apartment door clicking shut behind her. Only to make her startle when a heavy pounding resounded on the other side.

“Delivery!”

Kara blinked and twisted, pushing her hair out of her face before pulling open the door and having a rather large box shoved into her grasp.

“Have a nice day Ms. Danvers.”

Kara looked at the box and its wrappings then up after the deliverer. “Thanks!” She edged her way back inside, shutting her door once again and locking herself inside as she set the thing down on the only space it would fit.

Her bed.

She caught the edge of the envelope taped to the top and carefully opened it up. It was single sided, stark white with small embellishments around her name at its center. She turned it over and rose a brow at the words that greeted her.

_**“Wait until your phone rings.”** _

She tipped her head, looking at the box then the note until her phone did indeed ring. With a heavy swallow she bolted across her apartment, snagging her phone without looking and hitting the accept button.

She heard the sound of ice hitting glass, and the faintest sounds of someone swallowing beyond the receiver.

“Kara.”

Cat’s voice was a like a bomb going off in her body, dark rich tones purring into her ear that she very nearly dropped the thing.

“M-Ms. G-”

“Cat, you can call me Cat Kara, I’m not your boss anymore. Remember?.” The tone was back and Kara found herself sitting on the edge of her bed to ensure she didn’t hit the floor.

“I don’t want to.” She said softly, hoping Cat couldn’t hear her before she cleared her throat in case she had. “Okay, Cat, I uhm, I have the package and-”

“Did you open it?”

“No.”

Cat hummed her amusement. “Good girl.”

Kara swallowed hard, eyes closing to the sentiment that spilled out of the phone at her.

“You can now you know.”

Kara barely paused, twisting on her bed to fling apart paper and tissue until her fingers curled round the edges of the lid and pulled up. Her gaze was filled with pristine lines and fitted contours, rich colors and matching accents to a suit she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to find occasion to wear. There were matching ties and pocket panels and even a matching skirt of a thing. Options, Cat was full of them, and now apparently so was Kara to a degree.

“Oh my god…” She whispered, once again hearing ice clink away against glass. “Cat..what..did you-”

“I figured the next time you were invited to a proper party, you’d have something proper to wear.”

“How, did you, what, get… I don’t-”

“Good night Kara.”

“Good-huh wait! Where are you?” She could almost hear Cat smile over the phone, the last of the liquid drained from its glass.

“Somewhere I’ll share with you soon enough.”

And just like that the call ended. 


	3. Amsterdam, Netherlands

Another week another postcard, like clockwork.  

Kara dropped her reports off in her inbox for Snapper and snagged the ever growing pile from her outbox, retreating to her office to sort through it all and get a head start on the day and the rest of the week.  She had an inkling of what she wanted to write about but she needed to double check with Alex before she let her rainbow flag of support fly.

Write from experience, write fact, write about why her sister was far braver than Kara could ever be.  This notion smacked her in the face when she caught sight of the small raised flag denoting that she had mail nestled in her inbox newly affixed to her office door.  There was a danger thereto be sure for the mail she was receiving to be dropped off there. Then again there were also enough security cameras that should anyone from the office outside Toby actually try to look at the thing they’d be drug into HR so fast it would make even Kara’s head spin.

She casually snagged the mail tucked into the opaque bin before slipping into the office and closing the door. Kara forgot about the pile from Snapper almost instantly, leaving it on the corner of her desk as she slid into her seat and scanned the scenery before her.  Given the canals and architecture she guessed Venice but it was lacking the surrounds and height that dictated such a city.  

Given that Cat’s last treasure had come from Milan, that guess wasn’t too far off although she knew it wasn’t right.  With a turn of the card her gaze fell to the location, brow raising slightly when she read Reguliersgracht at Dusk, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Kara drew in a deep breath when her eyes traveled up to Cat’s flowing script, teeth biting into her bottom lip as she scanned each letter, committing it to memory before actually reading the note provided to her.

_“Kara,_

_You would have loved it here, especially moonlit boat rides through the veins of the city.  One can only imagine what you would be inspired enough by to draw.”_

Kara rose a high brow, straightening slightly as she re-read the last sentence.  Certainly she had a few, okay one sketch, framed and set just to the side of her phone when she had been stationed outside Cat’s office but it was no bigger than a business card and unless you knew how she signed her paintings one would have no idea it was even hers.

Granted there was the occasional doodle on her notepad during a meeting or outline she couldn’t help but map in her day planner when the right pose or mood had struck her but she couldn’t recall any method of communicating to one Cat Grant that Kara was an artist.  Words were her choice medium for the time being and she still dabbled in all other forms, lately she had taken a greater interest in photography than before in the hopes of getting one of her photos published with one of her articles but no such luck.

Regardless Kara honestly couldn’t recall a single instance with which she had indulged in that topic of conversation with the other woman.  Then again she hadn’t ever given her measurements to Cat either and if the suit she had gotten prior was any indicator Cat was very, -very- good at procuring information.   Of course Kara should have already been aware of this considering the depths of her background Cat had dove into in order to get Kara to admit she was Supergirl.

The more Kara thought about it, the more she realized her level of surprise on the matter of Cat finding out about her without Kara’s help shouldn’t be so surprising.  In fact, the more she really thought about it, the faster her heart beat with an anticipation for something she wasn’t sure had a name just yet.  She swallowed the rising nervousness back down and turned back to the note with a grounding exhale.

 

_“Do be sure to follow the instructions on the bottle when you get it._

__-Cat”_ _

 

Kara eyed the postcard again, turning it over to take in the sight of what she could only guess was where Cat was now before pushing away from her desk.  She opened the top right drawer, taking out the spool of CatCo pink thread and a thumb tack before Kara made her way to her door and the map she had pasted there.

Each postcard Cat had sent her was attached to it by pushpins, their thumb holds serving as anchors for the string stretched between each point. With ease she pinned the card in place over its location, knotting the end of the string before stretching it from Milan to Amsterdam and cutting the spool free with a quick burst of her heat vision. Coiling the melting end to the pin until the two plastics fused together.  

Kara let out another grounding breath, hands smoothing over her stomach and straightening her shirt as she tried to edge Cat and whatever surprise she had waiting for her now into the back of her mind in order to try and function for the rest of the day.

By the time Kara got home it was far later than she had intended, thanks to an early evening request on Lena’s behalf of Kara into what turned into dinner and an offer for drinks that Kara took a raincheck on. It hadn’t helped either that most of her actual work for Snapper had been shoved aside to yet another Cadmus test of strength in National City that she and others had to deal with.

Once she was changed and in the quiet of her apartment she sent a text to Alex, double checking on her one more time to be sure she was alright and even adding a small sisterly reminder that even as beautiful as she was Kara could still kick Maggie’s ass, or at the very least give her a stern talking to.   The smiley and “lol” of a response made Kara feel a little lighter concerning that particular subject, before Alex assured her that she was indeed fine and that Maggie was also right in the advice she had given. Painful as it was but still.

Kara told her sister she loved her and if Alex needed anything she knew just what to do before she told her goodnight.  With the goodnight response back Kara allowed herself to finally get comfortable only to have the faintest knock resound at her door.

“Seriously with this day.”  Kara sighed, hauling herself back up her pace quickening slightly when she looked through the door and caught sight of her neighbor from down the hall.

“Mrs. Peyton? Is everything alright?”

The elder woman smiled giving Kara a nod before presenting her with a wooden box. “This came for you Kara, they just left it at the door when you didn’t answer and I didn’t want anyone to take it.”

Kara eased the box out of her neighbor’s grasp with ease, giving her a small smile. “You shouldn’t have done that, or carried it over here I would have come and gotten it from-”

“Nonsense, you’ve been so busy lately with everything, I needed the excuse.” The elder woman offered with a warmer smile of her own. “Make sure you’re eating right and everything.”

Kara let out a small sigh shaking her head. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around.”

The woman shrugged, her smile remaining. “You have far more important things than to bring my groceries up any more Kara, just like your sister . Besides the delivery service they use now doesn’t have a problem bringing them up to this floor anymore so there is that.”

Kara nodded, shifting the box, her posture straightening slightly with that information.   Once she had gotten the job at CatCo she had scoured the city for a delivery service for Mrs. Peyton, under the guise of course that they simply worked under the grocery store she shopped from.  It had been an interesting network she had set up and still paid into but the reward for it was the real driving force behind that endeavor.

“I’ll let you get back to it Kara, tell Alex I said hello.”  Without prompt Kara leaned down to hug the older woman, giving a quiet thank you before they parted ways.  Kara stood in her doorway until she heard Mrs. Peyton’s locks engaged before stepping back and locking her own door.

She looked at the box, already knowing what was inside, having scanned its contents as soon as Mrs. Peyton had offered it to her, having found it rather odd for the delivery guy to just leave it at her door when every package prior had been so precariously delivered.  Kara decided she would focus on that later once she pried open the crate with her bare hands, easing the dense foam out from around the more form fitting sponge material and netting until she held a square black bottle in her hands.

The thing with sealed with wax and poured over wire mesh, the label a blank slate that shimmered with some snarling panther relief when she tilted it into the light just right.  When she turned it over the entire backside was coated in a thin film, the bottom right corner edged white with the smallest of fonts instructing her to lift.

As she peeled the film off Cat’s handwriting was made visible through the transparency of the sheet she now held, the black lines having matched the tint of the bottle perfectly so as not to be seen.  Kara bit at the inside of her cheek, that pleasantly anxious feeling swirling low in her gut all over again as she tried not to consider how much effort and money Cat was undoubtedly putting into each of these little treasures.

_“Kara,_

_Seems I’ve missed out on quite a lot since my departure.  The words Kara Danvers and Drunk had certainly crossed my mind before now but not in such a way as it apparently occurred.  I realized whatever it was you were subjected to was clearly classless and tasteless and that, needed to be remedied.  I would say save it for the right occasion but I wouldn’t want to assume, though I will own how selfish that sounds._

_Word of warning, this was made special for you so I would advise not sharing it with anyone who doesn’t evince your constitution._

_Do be careful, I thought I had warned you of this prior to now._

__-Cat”_ _


	4. National City, California

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently this and Alex Danvers have a ype have kind of merged.... which makes it non-canon - canon universe? 
> 
> I dunno. 
> 
> EITHER way SUPERGIRL HIATUS SHENANIGANS or something like that. 
> 
> Also if you're curious about reading order it would be   
> [PostCards Chapt 1&2 ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8322661/chapters/19060543)  
> [Alex Danvers Has A Type Chapt 1&2 ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8259085/chapters/18922975)  
> Postcards Chapt 3  
> Alex Danvers Has a Type Chapt 3  
> Postcards Chapt 4

Cat watched in horror, halfway across the world as the news footage from National City and the rain of death promised by Cadmus began to burn through the sky on the tail end of a rocket. 

Hours ago the woman wouldn’t have looked twice, wouldn’t have thought to find an american consulate or frantically kept trying to call home only to find all lines busy or he connection so poor there really wasn’t one to be made. 

Hours ago she was looking at crystals, natural formations and all manner of earthly crafts looking for just the right one.  The one that would remind Kara of home and at the same time make her feel less isolated and connected here.  Of course the fact they were polished and cut and just happened to be set in rings, or could be, wasn’t the point.

All that had been forgotten when she heard the shouts at a pagoda beside her, when she glanced over at the only tv she had seen along this particular square with its grainy and ill patched connection and saw the face of Cadmus.  

Instantly her heart sank, while the promise to eradicate all alien life from the planet and secure the future for humans made her sick.  She didn’t want a future without Kara, or any other element of Kara’s life that included other aliens which she had no doubt of even if none of these truths have been revealed to her.  

She had forgotten everything, dropped and made her way through the square until she was secure in the consulate.  News outlets were replaying the message while National City became the forefront of news across all outlets.

Flights had been canceled, others were on hold, and any hope of her getting a private jet out of where she was and plane hopping until she made it back to National City was impossible. Not that it would do any good, this was all happening now and given the fiery lilt to the skies of National City, her city, their city, there was nothing she could do about it. 

Cat was unaware of the shout she had made, how far it went, how many people turned to her when she caught the explosion, a hand over her mouth another clutching at her chest as glassy eyes watched Kara fall.   Her gaze widened further when she saw the sky turn to fire raining its embers down on her city while her fingers twisted into a fist around her shirt trying to claw at the muscle beating her ribs into submission beneath. 

She choked on Kara’s name as it slipped between her fingers, blinking away the haze as she watched and waited, scouring the live footage for the beginnings of panic and mayhem.  The reports of countless deaths to flood in from National City and work their way around the world to her. 

This wasn’t supposed to happen, this wasn’t what she was warned about.  This was not part of the plan of her departure.  This was the opposite of leave and protect her.  This was the antithesis of allowing someone less expendable to be the one to be the human target for Cadmus to get to Supergirl. 

She had been promised, she had been convinced, she had been sworn and her life uprooted and every moment of every day was just a little darker without her usual dose of sunshine in it all to protect Kara until the head of Cadmus could be cut off.  

And it had all been for nothing. 

Cat was in the depths of a chair she hadn’t known was anywhere near her, cushions swallowing her whole as she felt her body growing numb only to stir with the squeal of her phone.  She fumbled with trembling fingers into her bag seeing the name on the screen and feeling the life rushing back into her body like a wave of fire. 

She answered the phone, eyes turning back to the news footage as her other hand cupped her vacant ear, voice a shadow if itself as she answered tentatively. 

“Aunt Kitty?” 

“H-how… how did you get through?!”

“I have my ways.”  

“Are you, is.. What- 

“I did it.” 

Cat’s brow furrowed, the voice on the other end of the line so easy for her to read, the woman she was talking to was just as broken but for an entirely different reason. 

“Did what?”

“I.” The woman on the other end paused a moment, taking a deep breath to square her emotions back into the box she had always kept them in.  “I stopped her.  Turned her in, I exposed her Aunt Kitty.” 

“Oh El… that, she…. I’m-” 

“No.  No apologies. I knew that was possible. When, when he came, when he told me you sent him.” 

Cat searched the air in front of herself, pulling in a deep breath the more her niece talked, her nerves settling despite still  being on edge while her adrenaline fade began to tug at her. 

“Kara’s alright. I promise.”

Cat let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding a hand coming to rub at her face as she leaned forward and allowed herself a moment of thankfulness. 

“We promised you Aunt Kitty, I promised you.” 

“I shouldn’t have let you both talk me into this.” 

“Then we wouldn’t have gotten to Cadmus before they got to her, or you.” 

“It’s not over El, she’s not-” 

“We’ll worry about that later. Right now, you need to contact your hotel, confirm the order I’ve already sent and wait until the car I’ve sent to you arrives at the consulate.” 

“El...what-” 

“You know what I mean with all that Aunt Kitty.  Even if it’s temporary, after this she needs you.” 

Cat swallowed thickly, straightening in her chair and pushing the tear spilling down her cheek. 

“I’m coming home.” 

“Plane’s waiting, just needs you on it.”   

“Lena.”  Cat’s voice hung in the silence, unsure of what to say, of how to excuse her sister and the family she married into while abandoning her own.  To this whole elaborate plan on the guise of her needing to find herself while Superman and Lena along with a few others she was in the dark about continued to work in those shadows. 

All for Kara. 

“I’ll call you from the plane Aunt Kitty, Carter’ll be back in the city by next weekend for the holiday, I thought you might want the time to collect yourself.”

“What about, have you found your own-” 

“As much as I loved your penthouse it’s -your- penthouse, again stop worrying so much about trivial things Aunt Cat, get your things, get on the plane, I’ll be there to meet you I promise.” 

Cat sucked in a deep breath, letting it fill her completely before she rose to stand on uneven feet. “Thank you Lena, I mean that.”

“No thanks, no apologies, let’s not forget who’s really saved who here.  Talk to you soon Aunt Kitty” Lena paused for a moment, worrying her bottom lip a bit and taking a breath to continue. 

“I love you Lena.” 

Lena closed her eyes with the sentiment, swallowing her words and the emotion behind them before she nodded to herself. “Love you too Aunt Cat. See you soon. Bye.” 

“Bye El.”  Cat clutched her phone to her chest, drawing in a deep breath to steady herself before she lifted her chin and slipped into the second skin of her CEO self. Within seconds she was on the phone again, providing instructions and confirmations to her hotel as a text came in confirming her driver and flight information from Lena.  

She snagged an aide, describing the pagoda she had been at before handing him money and giving explicit instructions to him before watching him rush out and into the streets. Without hesitation she straightened herself up, fixed her slip in make up easily enough with the mirrored wall and waited for the elements of her travel arrangements to come together around her.

By the time Cat landed the sun was setting across the horizon, she caught sight of the limo waiting her and just outside it, her niece as the small private jet that she had transferred to in New York was drawn into the hangar. 

With little fuss she was off the plane and wrapped around the younger woman as tightly as she could manage. Her hands were in her hair and smoothing the pale structure of her face as she took Lena in for the first time in person in years. 

“You got taller.”  

Lena couldn’t help the smile that came with the sentiment, a hand coming to rest over her Aunt’s before pulling the pair of limbs down and into her grip, holding their joined hands between the two of them. 

“It’s the shoes I promise Aunt Kitty.” 

Her luggage loaded, the pair of them slipped into the limo and started towards the city proper. 

“You’re sure there’s-” 

“There's nothing you could do, could have done or would have been able to do had you been here Aunt Cat.”

“I could have been there when she-”   
  
“And again, she might’ve done far worse with you than me.  I merely acknowledged having come to know Supergirl on a minimally personal note.”

“You’re sure you don’t want to stay with me anyway?  I can’t imagine you’ve fared well in your new and now, once again, newly ruined apartment.”

Lena grinned, head tipping with just enough curiosity to cause her aunt to shift from the scrutiny. 

“Are you nervous Aunt Kitty?” 

“No, I’m worried about you.”

“I think you’re far more worried what Kara’s going to do when she sees you.” 

Cat leveled a glare at Lena although there was a mirth behind it that merely made the younger woman chuckle at the truth of her observations. 

“I have a place, a safe place to stay until I find another new one.”

“And just who insisted on that?”

It was Lena’s turn to shift with an ounce of discomfort, causing Cat to grin in her typical fashion.  

“You didn’t tell me -everything- did you.” It was more statement than question as Lena turned her gaze and shifted her jaw in order to hide her smirk. 

Cat nodded her chin up a touch before letting out a small hum of a noise. “You keep that then, for yourself, til you’re bursting at the seams to share.” 

Lena actually blushed as thoughts of a particular D.E.O. agent fluttered through her mind before she cleared her throat once the skyline of National City broke through the window, leaving the pair of them in comfortable contemplative silence. 

 


End file.
